In collaboration with Dr. Pietro Sanna (Scripps Institute) and Dr. Marisela Morales (NIDA), we provided our well-characterized AAV vector expressing the neurotrophic factor GDNF to help demonstrate that syndecan-3 limits cocaine intake by modulating effects of GDNF. This work has been published in Nature Communications. In collaboration with Dr. Woody Hopf (Gallo Institute) and Dr. Antonello Bonci (NIDA) we generated AAV vectors to modulate expression of NMDARs in the nucleus accumbens of the rat brain. Through this work, a mechanism of NMDAR contribution to altered neuronal circuits involved in aversion-resistant intake to alcohol was described. This work has been published in Nature Neuroscience. Our lab participated in a study led by Drs. Hope, Calu and Shaham (NIDA) that examined the contribution of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) in stress-induced reinstatement of palatable food seeking behavior in rats. We demonstrated that intracranial light delivery to rat PFC does not significantly affect expression of markers of glial activation. Overall, the study used an optogenetic approach to show that inhibition of neural activity in the rat mPFC alters stress-induced relase to food seeking in female rats. This work has been published in Journal of Neuroscience. We have generated an AAV vector expressing the human mu opioid receptor (huMOR) and are evaluating the role of huMOR in methamphetamine sensitization in mice. Our preliminary findings show that huMOR expression by an AAV vector in specific brain regions alters methamphetamine sensitization. We have submitted this work for publication and it is currently under revision. re.